Major parties slammed for ‘striking failure’ on gun law loopholes

Both major parties have been slammed for their “striking failure” to close gun law loopholes, 25 years after a lone gunman massacred 35 people.

Gaping holes in Australia’s gun laws are a “striking failure” of Liberal and Labor governments and must be urgently fixed, a key crossbencher says.

A News Corp investigation found the National Firearms Agreement (NFA) signed in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre was riddled with loopholes, with law enforcement struggling to track weapons when licence holders moved interstate.

A number of measures agreed to by the states and territories after the 1996 shooting – where lone gunman Martin Bryant killed 35 people – have yet to materialise, including a national firearms registry.

Key independent senator Rex Patrick has lashed the major parties for decades of failure to introduce a registry.

RELATED: It’s 25 years since the Port Arthur massacre, and we owe it to the victims to keep gun laws tight

Rex Patrick has slammed the major parties for a ‘striking failure’ to establish a national gun registry. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

But he said new mechanisms for co-operation during COVID-19, including regular national cabinet meetings, provided an opportunity to revisit the issue.

“The continuing absence of a national firearms register, something agreed in principle a quarter of a century ago, is a striking failure on the part of successive federal and state governments – Coalition and Labor,” he said.

“Given the spirit of federal-state co-operation that has been built through the COVID-19 crisis, surely the Prime Minister and premiers and chief ministers can give this long overdue project new momentum to get a registry in place that will strengthen firearms controls across our nation.”

Assistant Home Affairs Minister Jason Wood, whose remit includes gun regulation, described a national registry as a “no-brainer”.

Former prime minister John Howard drove the post-Port Arthur reforms and said he still supported the measure, warning today’s politicians that he would be “openly hostile” towards any attempt to water his reforms down.

But the News Corp report found the NFA had been softened several times since it was signed, and no state or territory had ever been fully compliant.

The National Firearms Agreement has been softened since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, a News Corp report has revealed.

Former Prime Minister John Howard, pictured at a memorial for Port Arthur victims, has warned against watering down gun laws.

Mr Howard conceded there had been “nibbling at the margins” but insisted the reforms remained largely intact.

Senator Patrick said the changes in 1996 “undoubtedly helped keep Australia safe” but warned against complacency.

“Our political leaders shouldn’t take that success for granted and should continue to take the steps required to protect Australians from gun violence,” he said.

A inquest into the 2018 shooting murder of Jack and Jennifer Edwards in Sydney has put gun oversight in focus this month, with the coroner finding the state’s registry failed in its duty to prevent their father, John, from obtaining guns.

Despite a string of domestic violence incidents reported to police, Edwards was granted multiple gun licences and legally obtained weapons, including the pistol used to kill his two children, aged 15 and 13.

Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan found the training provided to staff the NSW Firearms Registry was “grossly inadequate” and licences were granted in a setting of “widespread confusion and incompetence”.

A survey of Australians in 2016 found nearly half supported strengthening the nation’s gun laws, while just 6 per cent viewed them as too tough.

Labor home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally declined to comment.

Originally published as Major parties slammed for ‘striking failure’ on gun law loopholes